xkcd
Campaigns
TS-Si supports open and immediate access to publicly funded research.
Petition: remove women of transsexual / intersex history from the GLAAD Media Reference Guide. [ sign ]
Read: Andrea Rosenfield's call for reform.
Opening Doors to Transsexual Medical Research
TS-Si
is dedicated to the acceptance, medical
treatment, and legal
protection of individuals correcting the misalignment
of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition
into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
is dedicated to the acceptance, medical
treatment, and legal
protection of individuals correcting the misalignment
of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition
into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
| Americans Can't Grasp Science And Evolutionary Theory |
 |
 |
| SciMed - Biology | |||
| TS-Si News Service | |||
| Wednesday, 19 December 2007 20:00 | |||
|
Revisiting seminal research …
London, United Kingdom. New findings argue for the persistence of sex-linked chromosomes, such as the male Y  chromosome, refuting theories that the Y is doomed to extinction.
The results confirm that although these chromosom... evolution. That is a significantly higher proportion than found in any Western European country. Another one in five were unsure about evolution. In contrast, 80 percent or more of adults in Iceland, Denmark and Sweden accepted the concept of evolution.
Public Acceptance of Evolution. Jon D. Miller, Eugenie C. Scott, Shinji Okamoto. Science: Vol. 313. no. 5788, pp. 765-766. doi: 10.1126/science.1126746.
 Data collection and analysis since Miller's 2006 paper remains consistent with his original findings. He notes that religion plays a major role in how Americans view evolution. "The lowest-ranking country in terms of discounting evolution is Turkey. The United States is next," said Miller, who has analyzed surveys on belief in evolution from around the world. "The way we characterize religious fundamentalists in Turkey and in the U.S. is that they are both one-book religions."
"Fundamentalists in this country say everything you need to know is in the Bible, period. Islamists say everything you need to know is in the Koran, period," said Miller, a professor in political science at Michigan State University (MSU).
In addition to religion, politics plays a crucial role in how Americans view evolution. It has become a highly politicized issue, Miller said, with the Republican Party in particular often using it as a litmus test for potential candidates. "There is no major political party in Europe that uses opposition to evolution as a part of its political platform," he said. "In the United States, there are people who think it is a political advantage to discount evolution."
Not surprisingly, Miller and colleagues also found that persons with strong pro-life beliefs were significantly more likely to reject evolution than those with pro-choice views. "The total effect of pro-life attitudes on the acceptance of evolution was much greater in the United States than in the nine European countries surveyed," he said.
Miller says “The number of public policy controversies that require some scientific or technical knowledge for effective participation has been increasing. Any number of issues … point to the need for an informed citizenry in the formulation of public policy.”
Jon Miller is the Hannah Professor of integrative studies at Michigan State University (MSU). He has appointments in the Division of Mathematics and Science Education and the Department of Political Science.
 Blue bars represent the percentage of people in a survey of 32 European countries, Japan, and the United States who agreed with the statement
“Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals.”
Only Turkey has a lower acceptance of evolution than the US.
Public Acceptance of Evolution. Jon D. Miller, Eugenie C. Scott, Shinji Okamoto. Science: Vol. 313. no. 5788, pp. 765-766. doi: 10.1126/science.1126746.
Abstract. The acceptance of evolution is lower in the United States than in Japan or Europe, largely because of widespread fundamentalism and the politicization of science in the United States.
First paragraph. The concept of the evolution of humans from earlier forms of life is unacceptable to biblical literalists and causes concern even among some holders of less conservative religious views. Catholics and mainstream Protestants generally accept variations of a theological view known as theistic evolution, which views evolution as the means by which God brought about humans, as well as other organisms. Evolution is nonetheless problematic to some of these nonliteralist Christians, because it implies a more distant or less personal God. Efforts to insert "intelligent design" into school science curricula seek to retain the divine design of humans while remaining agnostic on earlier creationist beliefs in a young Earth and the coexistence of humans and dinosaurs.
Last paragraph. The politicization of science in the name of religion and political partisanship is not new to the United States, but transformation of traditional geographically and economically based political parties into religiously oriented ideological coalitions marks the beginning of a new era for science policy. The broad public acceptance of the benefits of science and technology in the second half of the 20th century allowed science to develop a nonpartisan identification that largely protected it from overt partisanship. That era appears to have closed.
| Full Text (PDF) |
 The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.TS-Si is dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, and legal protection of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
Email this
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
|||
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 December 2007 20:23 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
The TS-Si News Service
and the TS-Si Research Service are collaborations of TS-Si officials, staff, contributors, and corresponding institutions. The contents do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si or its owners, participants, partners, or affiliates.